Is it safe to do audio yoga classes?

Yes, as long as you stay within your appropriate ability level it is not only safe, but many people find it to be even more rewarding than taking a video class. Here's why:

Feeling, Not Seeing
Many yoga students who practice only at their studio or gym become overly reliant on watching other students or themselves in the mirrors. Yoga asana practice is about feeling the position of the body and becoming the pose. An audio-only practice allows the student to drop their reliance on watching others or themselves in the mirror and requires them to really listen to their teacher. This format allows the student to really go inside, feel the placement of their body, feel the adjustments they make, and become the pose.

Gaze
Yoga poses are designed in such a way that the gaze is an important factor in completing the pose. DVDs and traditional yoga instruction can cause the gaze to be distracted from its intended point, causing you to twist and wring your neck and thus taking away from the pose’s intention. Audio-only yoga removes this distraction and allows the student to focus on completing the pose and concentrate on its true intention.

Tradition
Audio-only style online yoga classes, such as those offered on Yoga Download, get back to the roots of yoga asana practice. Traditionally, yoga was passed down in India from guru to student using verbal cues only. A teacher would give verbal commands to their student over and over until finally the student understood what their guru was teaching them. It was through this method of teaching that the student was encouraged to listen to, and truly hear the teachings of their instructor.